1 H ear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.

2 T he virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

3 F or thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

4 F or thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

5 b ut seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.

6 S eek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.

7 Y e who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

8 s eek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name:

9 t hat strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

10 T hey hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

11 F orasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

12 F or I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

13 T herefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

14 S eek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

15 H ate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

16 T herefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

17 A nd in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord.

18 W oe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

19 A s if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

20 S hall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

22 T hough ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

23 T ake thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

24 B ut let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

25 H ave ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26 B ut ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

27 T herefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts.